Sprouting Seeds

Growing Passion Vines from Seeds

The best time to sow Passiflora seeds is in the winter so that you can transplant them into the garden by spring. Passion Vine seeds can be purchased in a packet from a nursery or be taken straight off the fruit. If you use the seeds from the fruit, make sure to wash off excess pulp and then plant them in a seed-starting mix in pots or cups that have holes on the bottom for drainage.

Fill the pots with commercial seed-starting mix or potting soil to about ½ inch from the top of the pot and plant a few seeds in one pot while keeping them a few centimeters apart. Cover them up with the mix and water them generously. Keep the pots in a warm place so that they can sprout, which can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks for seeds fresh from the fruit, and up to a year for seeds that have been stored. During this time, you should keep the soil moist at all times. Bottom heat can accelerate germination and can be achieved by keeping the seed starting tray on top of a refrigerator, above a water heater, or on a commercially available seed starting heating mat.

Once your seeds have sprouted, a good place to put them is on windowsill for sunlight and warmth. Once the seedlings appear and the plants reach about 2 inches (5 centimeters) in height, you will have to repot them into larger pots. Passion vines love to grow upwards; therefore, they may require a support stick. It takes about 12 months for these seedlings to begin flowering.

Before you transplant your Passion Vine plants to your garden, you need to harden off your seedlings. Give your new plants some time to get accustomed to the outdoor climate by setting them outside for a few hours every day, starting in a shady area. Each day, increase the number of hours outside and the amount of sunlight they get, so that they will properly harden off and be ready for the garden. Once the vines are 6 to 8 inches tall, you can transplant them in the garden.